Jesus really ticks people off at times
It seems to me that when you hear about Jesus in a church he is often quite a nice fellow. He is easy to listen to, always says nice things, and never upsets anyone. This last Sunday I listened to another of these sermons where we were encouraged (of course quite rightly) to prize friendship.
Perhaps it’s just me or perhaps it’s the passages we read in the gospels in church but when I read about Jesus he seems to be having the opposite effect on those who hear him.
Yes there are large crowds but by the time he is crucified all the large crowds have dwindled away. The religious leaders come to try and catch him out and he usually sends them away embarassed. We even hear quite early on in the gospels that people were planning to kill him.
Now we might put this down to first century zeal where the easy solution to any problem was to bump off the person causing trouble. But I think this is too simply a view. I think people were still bothered by the thought of killing someone, I don’t think they took this kind of things lightly at all. I think we can even see this in the character of Pilate who condemns Jesus. He can be ruthless but he still understands that taking another’s life is a big deal.
Jesus says things and does things that really upset people. He doesn’t just say do what I do, he says do what I say. Jesus says things that only God has the authority to say and in the end his opponents are very clear in their own minds that Jesus is claiming to be God.
This is uncomfortable for us even today. Most of us would like Jesus to be a little easier to cope with. But if what Jesus said is right then perhaps he should be causing a few upsets.
Perhaps Jesus needs to cause a few upsets even today.
